McCain courts NRA in gun shop visit

by Glen Johnson - May. 16, 2008 11:30 AMAssociated Press Writer

ST. ALBANS, W.Va. - John McCain visited a gun shop Friday - but bought just a rod, bobbers and other fishing equipment - during the first stop in a day of courtship of the National Rifle Association and Second Amendment devotees.

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting has been no darling of the gun-rights lobby, having pushed through signature campaign finance legislation gun supporters say has muzzled free speech. McCain has also favored tighter restrictions for buying guns at gun shows.

Nonetheless, McCain said he expected the votes of gun owners in his general election campaign against either Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton, the remaining Democratic presidential contenders.

"I will say we have had disagreements in the past, but my support and advocacy for Second Amendment rights, I am very proud of and I look forward to receiving their endorsement," McCain told reporters as his campaign bus wended its way here from the capital city of Charleston.

He said the only gun controls he favors are limits to keep guns from people with criminal backgrounds or indications of mental problems, although the Arizona senator said that, as president, he would sign a law that prohibited individuals from buying guns at a gun show without going through the same checks as those buying guns at regular stores.

McCain's gun shop visit in West Virginia, a general election battleground state, and his appearance at an NRA convention in Louisville, Ky., were aimed at assuring gun owners a McCain administration would not infringe upon their rights.

Also addressing the convention was former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Last year, Romney sought the support of gun owners by declaring himself a lifelong hunter, only to later step back and recast himself as a sporadic opponent of "small varmints."

In isolation, the questions about McCain's gun record could be troubling to a candidate vying for the votes of conservatives, former members of the military and residents in the South, where guns and hunting are prominent elements of the culture.

Yet in comparison to his potential Democratic rivals, McCain could be viewed as the most supportive of gun rights.

Obama, a senator from Illinois, said in a January debate that it is "very important for many Americans to be able to hunt, fish, take their kids out, teach them how to shoot." At the same time, Obama has received F grades from the NRA, supports a gun ban in the District of Columbia and was branded an elitist last month when he cited guns in analyzing the reaction of small-town residents who lose their jobs with no prospect of replacement.

Clinton, a senator from New York, made stricter gun control one of the themes of her first Senate campaign in 2000.